1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) socket, and particularly to a ZIF socket having an improved lever mechanism.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,020 discloses a conventional ZIF socket including a base and a cover slidably relatively moveable to the base, and a lever sandwiched between the base and the cover, wherein the lever includes a handle exposed to and accessible from outside and a cam shaft embedded within an upper half channel formed in the cover and a lower half channel formed in the base. However, the conventional ZIF socket could not protect the handle from being damaged by misuse in a wrong operating direction.
Hence, an improved ZIF socket is required to overcome the disadvantages of the conventional ZIF socket.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a ZIF socket having an improved lever mechanism for protecting a handle of the lever mechanism from being moved in a lateral direction.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a ZIF socket having an improved cover for securely positioning a lever mechanism thereon.
In order to achieve the objects above mentioned, a ZIF socket adapted for retaining a chip, e.g. a Central Processing Unit chip, thereon, comprises an insulating base, a cover slidably attached on the base, a leve mechanism assembled between the base and the cover, and a plurality of contacts received in the insulating base. The cover has a side wall with a supporting piece defined thereon. A restriction lug projects from an end of the supporting piece. The lever mechanism is substantially L-shaped and includes a manual lever and a cam shaft connected to the manual lever at one end thereof The manual lever defines an upper face and a lower face thereon. A rectangular recess is defined on the lower face and receives the restriction lug of the cover for limiting a movement of the manual lever along a lateral direction so as to protect the manual lever from being damaged.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.